Los Angeles Times: “Calvert, who did not respond to multiple interview requests for this story, has a history of voting against LGBTQ+ rights.”
As homophobic Rep. Ken Calvert continues to come under fire for his anti-LBGTQ+ legislative agenda in California’s 41st District — which boasts one of the largest LGBTQ+ constituencies in the country — election experts are warning that the district is a “ticking time bomb” for Republicans.
Here’s what Californians are hearing about anti-LGBTQ+ Rep. Ken Calvert this week:
Will Rollins, the gay Democrat and former counterterrorism prosecutor vying for a second chance to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert (Calif.), spoke with the Los Angeles Blade by phone on Thursday following the uproar over his opponent’s support for an anti-LGBTQ amendment to a spending bill that was advanced by conservative members of the House Appropriations Committee.
The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Subcommittee’s package contained a total of 2,680 Community Project Funding earmarks, all previously cleared by members from both parties, but just before its passage on Tuesday Calvert joined his Republican colleagues who removed funding for two LGBTQ centers in Pennsylvania and one in Massachusetts.
In practice, Democrats on the Committee argued, this could provide a pathway for someone who is responsible for the disbursement of survivor benefits to deny them to gay and lesbian beneficiaries.
“When you’ve got a Party that is prioritizing making sure that gay seniors can’t get food when they need it, versus a Party that wants to make our streets safer, or a candidate who wants to raise wages in Riverside County,” Rollins said, regardless of their political affiliation “voters understand that those priorities are misdirected from the far right.”
Calvert did not answer questions about why he deserves the support of LGBTQ voters and their allies in his district or whether he encountered blowback from any LGBTQ conservative constituents over his vote on Tuesday.
“It’s a ticking time bomb for Republicans,” said David Wasserman, a congressional forecaster for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which recently reclassified the district from GOP-leaning to a toss-up.
Calvert, who did not respond to multiple interview requests for this story, has a history of voting against LGBTQ+ rights…
It was the second time in July that House Republicans had turned a routine act of governance into a front in the culture wars. Earlier this month, Calvert voted with most Republicans to pass a national defense bill that included provisions to restrict abortion access, transgender medical treatment and diversity training for members of the military.
A California congressional race has been labeled as a “ticking time bomb” by one prominent elections expert amid Republicans‘ uphill effort to retain control of the House in 2024.
Ken Calvert—a longtime Republican congressman from a once-safely Republican district California’s Riverside County—is facing the challenge of his career next November against a formidable Democratic opponent in a race defined by shifting demographics and LGBTQ+ rights, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The makeup of [CA-41’s] population has shifted as well, now boasting one of the largest LGBTQ+ constituencies in the country, according to the Times. And Calvert, who has represented parts of the Inland Empire region since the early 1990s, has a long history of opposition to LGBTQ+ rights.
While he claims his stance on LGBTQ+ rights has softened, Calvert voted for numerous anti-LGBTQ+ provisions in a recently passed version of the National Defense Appropriations Act rife with policies steeped in culture war rhetoric.
Last week, Calvert gained attention in his district for using his vote on the influential House Appropriations Committee to kill $3.6 million in funding for three LGBTQ+ projects, including a senior housing development
